


Exultation

by Vihuri



Category: Heroes of the Storm (Video Game)
Genre: Battlefield of Eternity, Demonic Seduction, Eventual Smut, Humour, M/M, Mild violence and slight killing, Ridiculousness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:02:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24396226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vihuri/pseuds/Vihuri
Summary: Gul'dan finds himself fighting on Beleth's side at last. At least there's one other person he doesn't hate on the battlefield! However, he's not quite prepared for this kind of demonic attention.
Relationships: Gul'dan/Beleth
Kudos: 5





	Exultation

The very first difference Gul'dan had noticed between the Legion and the Burning Hells, back when he had first entered this fascinating world and been flung straight into one of its many battles, was the colour scheme. It was impossible not to appreciate the way his fel green spells actually stood out this time against all this red and black. He had always told himself that he was meant for something grand and special, and it was quite nice to actually feel it for a change.

"This is the Battlefield of Eternity. Here, we show the angels of the High Heavens how foolish they are for defying us... though they never learn."

Gul'dan had been here before, fighting on the angel's side - much to his disgust, of course, but there did not seem to be much choice here when the battle called. Back then he had grudgingly accepted the satisfaction of victory, but he had glanced at the broken demon statue curiously when it was over and wondered if this world would give him an opportunity to see how the other side would work for him. And here he stood now upon the heat-cracked stones of Hell between fire and shadow, ready to find out.

"You mortals could turn this endless battle in our favour. Fight for me, and together we will slay that arrogant wretch and all his kin!" Beleth's voice boomed from wherever he was perched, watching the battleground from above while waiting for his time to appear. Gul'dan had once fought with someone who had heard himself announce from above while simultaneously existing down on the battleground itself, but Beleth, of course, was above such confusions. The core did look very much like him, though, hands crackling with power as it crawled gracefully out of apparently Hell itself and settled in the middle of its dais in their fort. In any case, Gul'dan was already used to these things and barely thought it unusual now. This was the Nexus, these things happened. The one thing he still had trouble accepting was how... _congenial_ Beleth was to the mortals under his command here.

'Together', he had said. Interesting. He would actually fight alongside his minions and mortal champions, just like Ilarian. Now that was something new to Gul'dan - they had not given Beleth the opportunity to try last time - and it left him wondering how exactly he was expected to pay for this favour.

Of course, it was not only Beleth that intrigued him, in both good ways and bad. These non-Legion demons truly were something different, and sometimes Gul'dan wasn't sure how to take it. Mephisto had immediately taken the opportunity to comment on his demonic blood and bond with demonkind. Diablo, apparently one of the mightiest of them, called himself 'legion' as well. Butcher seemed to think with his stomach and communicate with his weapons and rarely spoke at all, whereas even the basest of the Burning Legion's demons at least had the common courtesy to shriek praise for their lords and masters. The Aspect of Sin, Azmodan, seemed oddly curious and friendly at times.

Well, Gul'dan _had_ seen him looking very much like he was wearing Gul'dan's skin once. And if he was not very much mistaken, he had heard Azmodan even say 'I will not be denied' upon coming back to life in their core after a particularly frustrating defeat. Things had been a little awkward between them after that battle, though they both always played nonchalant when they met again. In any case, these demons of the Burning Hells had been mostly pleasant company when Gul'dan had happened to fight by their side. Commanding and brutal, certainly, as befitted their station, but often almost... welcoming. Appreciative, even. Stern in failure, generous with compliments in success. After serving the Burning Legion for so long, in so many incarnations, Gul'dan had never really expected it to be possible on the path he followed. It was...

And he hadn't the time to finish his thought; insensitive to Gul'dan's inner musings, the gates finally opened to Beleth's smooth countdown, and thus began yet another battle over this realm.

Riding his Fel Razorgrin towards the High Heavens - and when had Kil'jaeden ever granted him anything like _that,_ hmm? - Gul'dan mused on how he had found that he quite liked the Nexus for reasons other than the power it could offer him, as incredible as that aspect of it was. Between the fights, there were endless lush lands for him to visit and admire before leeching the life out of their screeching cores and cowering inhabitants. And the fights themselves! He had never been one to engage in open combat for obvious self-preservation reasons, but in this odd world between worlds even death seemed a minor and temporary setback - so long as one was one of the 'heroes' who had somehow wandered to this place, which he certainly was. It made him a predator, more so than he had ever been before. However, it had to be the first time in any of his lives that anyone had ever considered Gul'dan a hero. There were others, many of them, less traditionally heroic wanderers here. Many of them outright monsters.

Gul'dan, perhaps, included. The thought made something spring to life in his hate-charred heart. It was about time the Darkness Incarnate received the recognition he deserved! After all, few things made victory as sweet as the utter terror in the eyes of those he was about to slay. Yes, no longer was Gul'dan a despised wretch in the eyes of enemy and servant alike! No longer looked down upon, no longer preyed upon, no...

"Perhaps, if you can spare the time from your daydreaming," Kel'Thuzad drawled with a most pleasant tone, "you could go ahead and corrupt those towers for us?"

"Do not _dare_ to speak to me so," Gul'dan snapped, blinking at the so far empty lane ahead of them. While he certainly liked to harass the enemy from a comfortable distance, he was _damned_... um, once again... if he was going to let some pompous undead give him lip he didn't even have.

"That is, if he can stop slavering over the prospect of even more demon blood to put in himself," added Illidan, chewing over every word as if every day were Hallow's End and every treat were fel taffy.

This time Gul'dan burst out laughing at the complete lack of self-awareness. "Would you like some more edge in this battle, demon hunter? Feel free to take this skull as well if I die today, but do not come to me to whine when I live again; for no matter how many skulls you steal from us, you will never come anywhere near our power."

With that, Gul'dan sped off on his trusty shark before he could hear Illidan's response. In a rare moment of self-awareness of his own, he had actually not been as scathing or clever as he would have liked, being so consumed by anger still. After all, he _had_ been daydreaming, and it had been rather nice, actually. He jumped off Razorgrin, and the magic-bolstered shark rode its wave a little longer before despawning and taking with it two and a half of the pathetic minions that had come through the gates in the time Gul'dan had wasted on his teammates. Well, it was certainly nice of them to line up for him like that. Gul'dan threw a lazy wave of corruption and then immediately a nice big fan of fel flame at the remaining faceless defendants. That was almost enough to take out most of them, and he gleefully and greedily picked them off one by one before anyone else could get to them.

_"Well done, mortal,"_ Beleth's rumbling voice whispered to him and him alone. _"Your hunger for destruction suits you well."_

Gul'dan shivered. Well, at least the demon didn't seem to hold a grudge for him for the last time. In his empowerment he flung another wave of flame at the gates, which gave a satisfying groan as they quaked under his power. The assault had begun in earnest.

"At the _towers_ , if you please," Kel'Thuzad sighed, having finally reached the site of one-sided carnage.

"What took you so long?" asked Gul'dan a little incredulously, pausing his rampage just long enough to life tap. "I thought your levitation spell was as fast as any mount. You could have attacked the towers yourself by now."

Kel'Thuzad crossed his arms, staring at the heavenly light shining from the distance beyond the gates. "It is impossible."

Although mildly curious as to why his teammate had chosen this particular moment to be difficult, Gul'dan had no time to spend on coaxing the answer from the lich and certainly no desire to speak to Illidan to ask if he knew. He simply turned back to the new wave of piglets to the slaughter and gleefully fed on one's life energies to replenish his own.

"You..." called a frosty voice as if from beyond the grave, "... _you_ shall know my cruelty firsthand!" In a show of delicious mismatching and to the agonised groan of Kel'Thuzad, out through the Gates of Light galloped the Lich King himself on his hell-steed. Gul'dan would have stopped to admire the torment Arthas had to be in if he hadn't just set his sights on Gul'dan, clearly hungering for revenge. With an arrogant laugh, Gul'dan moved back a little to let Hell's minions run past him and take the brunt of the Lich King's attacks for him. Another wave of flame fluttered at his fingertips, ready to blast off.

_"Here comes your first challenge,"_ Beleth whispered again. _"How will you deal with him, hero?"_

Gul'dan decided that being called 'hero' didn't bother him when it was Beleth doing it. He supposed he could be heroic when fighting for the right side. What a shame it was that, say, a certain Burning Legion couldn't see any advantage in actually treating him right so he wouldn't have to be ready to betray them at all times. No, wait, that was not entirely true... it had recently come to Gul'dan's attention that another incarnation of him _had_ come to gain the Legion's trust, eventually. That hadn't lasted long, but at least he had come a little bit farther in one life somewhere.

And how had that ended for him? Well, it had certainly _ended_. He didn't like to think of the vision of that particular death too much, apart from using it to remind himself to ultimately always trust only himself, to always be vigilant, and to take whatever power he could for his protection. And speaking of which...

"Tell me, lord of the dead," Gul'dan drawled as fire burst from his hands, "how tastes _your_ life energy?" And he sacrificed some of his own for a fleeting moment of power, as he had for so long, and then he had the Lich King feed him like any lowly prey, ripe for the picking.

_"How is it? Better than their nameless servants?"_

Gul'dan wondered if Beleth took this much interest in the other heroes that ended up on his side. Perhaps trying to seduce Illidan to servitude to a different kind of demon empire? Perhaps trying his luck with the Azerothian heroes that would never have listened to the call of the Burning Legion. Gul'dan was vaguely aware that those heroes in question would probably find such attention deeply unpleasant, but his Legion had often contacted him in this manner, too. It was nothing new and unsettling to someone of Gul'dan's magnificence. Besides, unlike Kil'jaeden's invasive presence that rattled his skull and tried his nerves, Beleth's voice was smooth and pleasant and with him in the battle.

"Acceptable," he chuckled. It was meant for Beleth, but heard by Kel'Thuzad and Arthas as well. The former reacted with an indignant growl, the latter by coming at Gul'dan with even more determination and fury. Yes, that did match Gul'dan's knowledge of Scourge tactics quite well; no thinking, simply throwing flesh at the target until it was overrun. Usually one had grunts do that instead of running at the enemy oneself, but obviously this human king was as good at such tactics as Varian had been. Gul'dan laughed openly as Arthas walked straight through all three charges of his corruption blast and stopped just short of taunting him about having learned warfare well from the Legion; after all, Mal'ganis was in this battle too, and although he was in a different area, Gul'dan did not want to risk him possibly hearing and coming to preach at him again with his droning monotone.

"Feel free to do your part," Gul'dan taunted Kel'Thuzad, throwing spells as he backed off from the Lich King. It looked like he was managing quite well, but it could have gone so much faster without the lich's insufferable loyalty.

Kel'Thuzad let out another pained groan. "Forgive me, my king. Perhaps our next battle sets things right." Finally he prepared his deadly spells... and aimed for Heaven's minions rather than the enemy hero right within blasting distance. Splendid.

Despite his unrelenting coldness, there was a touch of warmth in the Lich King's laugh. "Your faithfulness is noted, Kel'Thuzad."

"I serve no other," replied Kel'Thuzad, his voice audibly hitching.

The only thing that stopped Gul'dan from losing his latest meal was the thought of having to deal with the desecration of his magnificent beard afterwards. If that happened, it might even be worth it to die a little so he could come back whole again. "Clearly this is going to be one of those battles," he muttered to himself, hands beginning to glow once more.

_"At least you can have fun with your enemies, hero. Go on, keep toying with him."_

Gul'dan hoped Beleth could see his smirk from up there. The already cracked ground crumbled a little as his magic swept across it, temporarily painting the Lich King's perpetual blue hues with lovely fel greens. "This 'Heaven' of theirs will fall by my hand," he promised, "and they will weep for mercy before it does."

Beleth laughed. It sounded like approval.

Alas, the moment was not to last. " _There_ you are!" growled a voice that managed to make three words sound like a full monologue, interrupting Gul'dan's attempt to brutally murder his foe. True to himself, Illidan had disappeared who knew where without bothering to disclose his plans, and for some reason he chose now to jump in from the many shadows of Hell and lunge straight for Arthas. "I am more powerful than last we fought. Today we shall settle our feud once and for all!"

"You look rather injured, demon hunter," Kel'Thuzad commented, still focusing his attacks entirely on minions. It was probably fortunate that their corpses disappeared very quickly; by now the pile would have been high enough to interfere with the attempted duel that so suddenly had shifted focus. On the other hand, the thought reminded Gul'dan of the Path of Glory. Wouldn't that be something to recreate here?

Illidan's twin blades clashed with Frostmourne in a flash of sparks and unholy energies. The next slash connected, and Arthas was finally wounded enough that he took a step back to recover. This small victory certainly didn't deter Illidan from talking - did anything ever? "I am hale enough to have my vengeance! And even if I should fall here, I shall take him with me as surely as..."

But Illidan's propensity for talking finally caught up with him, for somewhere beyond Heaven's gates awoke a hatred before which all others paled. "Is that Illidan's voice I hear! I am coming for you, murderer! May Naisha watch upon me this day and know peace!"

Without missing a beat, Illidan's dash turned into a pivot, and he sprinted towards their own gates instead. "I must go heal myself. I shall return soon." And then, as abruptly as he had appeared, he was gone from their sight.

It actually took Gul'dan a moment to recover from this turn of events. The ludicrousness of it all had almost been enough to strike him breathless. Yes, he had found himself a little careless occasionally now that death was highly temporary, but unlike his current team down here, he still took his duty and pleasure of destruction seriously. Perhaps he should have gone with Mal'ganis after all? Surely it could not be much worse than this. Especially not when he could see Kel'Thuzad openly pleading for his king to go heal himself too, and Arthas actually turned and began to limp back towards the gates, holding his side. Gul'dan raised his stunned gaze to the sky, hoping to make eye contact with Beleth.

He could not find the demon lord there, but his voice replied to Gul'dan's little gesture. _"Well, I am glad to have at least one useful mortal on my side. Go on, finish him for me."_

Beleth's words once more restored something to life in Gul'dan. His glare snapped back down, hitting the Lich King's rapidly retreating back. There was no time to waste now; he was hacking apart some chasing minions on his way out and would soon be able to call for his steed. Gul'dan rushed after him.

"Warlock, you _dare_..." Kel'Thuzad began in vain, alerting his king to what was happening. Arthas looked back, his armour forcing him to turn almost completely around before he could see it as well.

Looking first Kel'Thuzad, then Arthas straight in the eye, Gul'dan sprayed consuming flames on his fleeing, pathetic enemy. With a furious cry, the Lich King found that ice was no match for fire, and expired most satisfyingly, his legendary sword falling with a mournful clatter as the hand holding it began to disintegrate. Kel'Thuzad quickly looked away, probably lest he howl in anguish at the sight of his fallen king. Well, no matter. The day was young, dead enemies would come back, and Gul'dan would no doubt have more opportunities for torture soon. The thought made him slightly more cheerful about his prospects in this match.

"First blood!" Beleth announced triumphantly to all the battlefield. And privately to Gul'dan: _"He will miss that body, will he not?"_

"Yes," Gul'dan laughed. It was so good to see Kel'Thuzad misinterpret his reaction and become even more offended and disgusted with him. That's what he got for expecting Gul'dan to have a shred of honour in him.

_"I do not wonder why the mortal king bayed so as he fell,"_ Beleth continued. _"After all, I too have tasted your fire."_

He let out a dark, pleased laugh at the memory. Gul'dan, once more stunned into silence, shivered again.

**Author's Note:**

> Credit where credit's due: some of Beleth's lines are from his announcer voice pack, though of course heinously misused here.


End file.
